A pril 7, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A?
p e r s p
e c t i
v e s
H a s te M a k e s W a s te And W e C an ’t A ffo rd It
First, let me clear up a misunder­
standing that resulted w hen 1 left out
a phrase in last week’ s education ar­
ticle. I agreed w ith the Oregon Educa­
tio n Association in th e ir "opposition
to three o f the ten components o f the
Oregon Educational A ct These were
“ a. The C ertificate o f In itia l Mastery
b. The Certificate o f Advanced the c.
Extension o f the School T ear The
firs t two were opposed fo r their sub­
jectivity and d iscrim in a tio n against
c e rta in p o p u la tio n g ro u p s --a n d
‘‘ School Extension " lack o f funds
Clearly, the Oregon Educational
A ct itself, in clu d in g the components
opposed, p rin cip a lly addressed the
grow ing concern that the states youth
were not being adequately prepared to
become productive members o f the
w orkforce In that this approach sub-
stantially d iffe rs from a histone and
traditional concept (W is tfu l) that pub­
lic schools should be about preparing
students for "h ig h e r education ”, the
shift in goals may
be a ttrib u te d to
pressures fro m the
business com m u­
n ity a n d c o n ­
cerned parents.
W h ile it is re­
assuring to fin d
that educators can
be responsive to
reality, you w ill note that I dealt w ith
a certain indecisiveness on th e ir part
in adopting the "A sia n , or the Euro­
pean" model fo r school-to-work pro­
grams in the modem industrialized
w orld 1 cited w hat can be regarded as
a “ trendy” approach in adopting fo r­
eign role models for a transition struc­
ture, particularly the abandonment o f
the "Japanese model" fo r a suddenly
in t r ig u in g “ G e rm a n S ta n d a rd
Though I demon­
strated a personal
fa m ilia rity and im ­
plied satisfaction
w ith the German
system (my ow n
education), my i ll
ease was based on
a fear that such
“ trendy” exercises
indicated that tim e restraints made fo r
poorly researched curricula or socio­
economic integration.
A case in po in t is that when the
drum s were beaten so fra n tica lly fo r
adoption o f A sian models, no one
seemed to notice that the Japanese
were w e ll into big, big trouble w ith
th e ir “ sch o o l-to -w o rk" educational
programs People who should have
know n better seemed oblivious to the
fact that “ life tim e employment fo r a
superbly trained w orkforce” was a
m yth; in fact, this w as less than a half-
truth, though eagerly seized upon by
the Year-2000 enthusiasts
O nly 2 0 % o f lapanesc youth were
able to achieve the preferential status
o f “ life tim e employ ment” and these
had to meet a criteria so rig id the
elements could not possibly have been
imposed in the socio-economic struc­
ture o f the U nited States: U niversity
graduates; only males; 22 o r 23 years
o f age at date o f h irin g C learly, our
educators “ could not see the forest for
prev ious articles where 1 have made colleges were being picked as a less
the case fo r b u ild in g the “ school-to- expensive educational alternative (Cer­
w o rk" programs on a structure that is tainly, an even more pressing force at
already in place and demonstrated to this time). But, 1 th in k my most crucial
be workable Perhaps even ore im p o r­ observation was that very early on (K
tantly, these C O M M U N IT Y C O L ­ to 12th grad) these institutions must be
LEGES have, u n like ’ forcign systems” , perceived as real and viable educa­
tional goals-and that the designers o f
evolved w ith in the socio-economic
structure o f the United States There the Oregon Educational Act(H B 3565)
are 16 com m unity colleges in Oregon,
serving more than 300,000 students a
year They offer two-year college trans­
fer programs, vocational tra in in g and
com m unity education
I emphasized the considerations
o f the experience-based vocational
tra in in g programs at these institutions
and the long-tim e cooperation w ith a
business comm unity a lly in need o f
skilled workers. Also, there was the
the trees” ~ o r the visions o f grants.
A t this point, I refer my readers to matter o f economics as com m unity
w ould have done better to have struc­
tured the com m unity colleges into the
system in a meaningful way.
This is why 1 joined the Oregon
Education Association and some fel­
low members o f the Associated O r­
egon Industries in opposing those two
“ Mastery” components o f the act We
do not want the rig id tracking and
closure on opportunity found in either
o f the foreign education systems. Haste
does make waste.
This Wav For Black Empowerment
The Two-Party System Has Nothing To Do With Democracy
BY DR. LENORA FULANI
The presence o f “ outsider in the
1992 presidential race-independents
like Ross Perot and my s e lf and insur­
gents w ith in the m ajor pa rtie s -th re w
an unusual spotlight on the undemo­
cratic practices used by the Democrats
and Republicans to lim it the voters'
choice o f candidates and narrow the
range o f issues discussed during the
campaign. Rather than allow the vo t­
ers to decide on w hether a candidate is
“ viable" o r not, party bosses w ork
behind the scenes to throw anti-m a­
chine candidates o ff the b a llo t to lim it
media coverage o f non-insiders and to
pressure debate sponsors to exclude
insurgents not content to merely con­
tro l the choice o f candidates, the par­
ties also try to lim it w ho gets to vote,
by fa ilin g , year after year, to pass
m u c h -n e e d e d r e fo r m s - s u c h as
agency-based registration and elec­
tion-day registration—that would bring
more voters in to the democratic pro­
cess. These exclusionary practices
have been explicitly defended—indeed,
recommended—by many m ajor party
leaders and by their pals in the press,
as necessary to the preservation o f the
two-party sy stem. But why should we
be interested in preserving a system
that has ruined our economy and pro­
duced a generation o f corrupt p o liti­
cians who do the bidding o f th e ir
corporate contributors rather than o f
the people they were elected to repre­
sent?
T here have been some fa ir -
minded elected leaders o f both m ajor
parties who have been w illin g to fig h t
this anti-dem ocratic trend and to open
the door to m ulti-party democracy.
A m ong these fighters fo r democracy
the undisputed champion is Congress­
man T im Penny, Democrat o f M in n e ­
sota.
D u rin g the 1992 election cycle,
Rep. Penny was a tireless advocate fo r
the rights o f third-party and insurgent
candidates to be included in the presi­
dential debates. He sponsored a b ill,
the Democracy in Presidential De­
bates A c t (H R. 791), w hich estab­
lished objective c rite ria by w h ic h in ­
dependents could qualify fo r in c lu ­
sion in the debates. N ext month. Rep.
Penny w ill introduce a new v ersion o f
this b ill to the 103rd
Congress. He w ill also introduce
tw o pieces o f legislation that deal w ith
other u n fa ir aspects o f our electoral
sy stem : the Fair Elections A ct o f 1993,
and the Election-Day Registration A ct
o f 1993.
The new version o f the Democ­
racy in Presidential Debates A ct w ould
ensure that voters get to see a ll s ig n ifi­
cant candidates debate each o th e r -
not ju s t the candidates that the m ajor
p a rty
bosses
ha ve
d e c id e d
are” sig n ifica n t ” U nder the provision
o f this b ill, a ll candidates w ho have
qualified fo r Primary m atching Funds
by January 1 o f election year must be
included in a special debate, orga­
nized p rio r to the firs t prim ary , and
sponsored by a on-partisan, non-profit
organization. T h is w ould give the
v oters the opportunity to see a nd evalu­
ate all significant candidates before
the establishment media decides fo r
us who is "via b le ” and therefor, who
w ill get coverage and who w ill not
Then, in the fa ll o f the election year,
all candidates who receive public fund­
ing fo r th e ir general election cam ­
paigns (that is, the m ajor Party n o m i­
nees) must participate in tw o general
election debates, again, to be spon­
sored by a non-partisan organization.
Independent candidates who are on
the ballot in at least 40 states and w ho
have raised a threshold amount o f
campaign contributions, must be a l­
lowed in to the debates w ith the major
party candidates. I f a candidate re­
fused to participate in these debates,
they w ould fo rfe it the m illio n s o f d o l­
lars o f public money they w ould o th ­
erwise receive for th e ir campaign.
' 1 The Fair Elections A ct o f 1993
w ould streamline the process for th ird -
party candidates to gain access to the
ballot in elections fo r president, U S.
senator and U S. representative. In an
attempt to shield themselves from in ­
dependent competition. Democrats and
Republicans in state legislatures have
passed discrim in a to ry ballot access
laws w hich require th ird party candi­
dates to collect 25 to 30 times the
number o f signatures required o f the
major parties, to file signaturesearlier,
and in some cases, to pay filin g fees
that are not applicable to major-party
candidates In 1988 I was the first
A frica n Am erican and firs t woman to
succeed in getting on the ballot in all
50 states, but I had to spend 18 months
and almost a ll o f my $2 m illio n cam­
paign chest to do so. The F air Elections
A ct would do away w ith filin g fees and
early deadlines, and reduce the overall
number o f signatures required o f inde­
pendents to a reasonable maximum,
tied to the number ofvoters in the state
who participated in the last election.
F inally, the Election-Day regis­
tration A ct w ould require every state to
perm it voters to register on the day o f
theelection Despite self-serving w arn­
ings that such a system w ould lead to
m a ssive
fra u d ,
M in n e s o ta ,
W isconsin,M aine and N orth Dakota
hav e already successfully implemented
this reform, increasing their voter par­
ticipation rates to 15% above the na­
tional average, w ith no threat to the
integrity o f the election Rep. Penny’s
b ill w ould extend this democracy mea­
sure to the other 46 states plus the
district o f Columbia.
These three b ills w ould level the
elcctorial playing fie ld by remov ing
the lim ita tio n s on our basic constitu­
tional rights—the rig h t o f association,
the rig h t to vote, and the rig h t to run
fo r office We need this kin d o f sweep­
ing restructuring o f the election pro­
cess in order to brin g ordinary people
in to politics and make government
w o rk fo r us. C a ll o r w rite y o u r
Congresspersons today. T e ll them to
support these bills. T e ll them that we,
the people, w ant more democracy.
From Montgomery To Memphis: The Transformation Of Martin Luther King
reform er was devoted to eradicating
the blatant in d ig n itic s o fth c apartheid
system in the southern part o f the U S .
Em bracing the philosophy and tactics
o
f his beloved Mohandas Mahatma
by Ron Daniels
Ghandi o f India, Dr. K in g in itiated a
massive assault on the bastions o f
A p ril 4, was the 25th anniversary Rev D r M a rtin Luther K in g , he is the segregation throughout the South us­
o f the assassination o f D r M a rtin hesitant leader and reluctant perfoim er in g non-violent direct action. The
L u th e r K in g . As m ig h t be expected, w ho is v irtu a lly drafted to spearhead w hite o n ly sings on buses, lunch
there were a m u ltip lic ity o f local, state the M ontgom ery bus boycott The elo­ counters, hotels, water fountains, to i­
and national ceremonies and m em ori­ quence o f his oratory, the amazing lets, beaches and cemeteries fe ll be­
als to mark the occasion. In my judge­ power o f his conv ictions in the face o f fore the onslaught o f arm y o f non­
ment, there is so m uch pomp and adv ersity and his extraordinary fa ith v io le n t w arriors fo r social justice. By
circumstance, so many commemora­ in the capacity o f the people to wage the tim e o f the h istoric M arch on
tions, and so much celebration, in ­ and w in the struggle fo r se lf w orth, Washington in 1963 K in g had emerged
deed m ystification o f the man and his d ig n ity and c iv il rights catapulted as the sy mbol o f a c iv il rights revolu­
life that we are in danger or losing the M a rtin Luther K in g into national and tio n that was changing the face o f a
nation.
real force and power o f this coura­ global prominence.
The second phase o f D r. K in g s
To his death Dr. K in g had a deep
geous drum major fo r justice.
The M a rtin Luther K in g that we and abiding fa ith in the promise o f the w o rk was devoted to the struggle fo r
see in M ontgom ery in 1955, and the Am erican dream He was in the truest dem ocratic rights, p a rtic u la rly the
K in g that stirred our hopes in Wash­ sense a B lack A m erican w ho saw it as struggle to achieve v o tin g rights fo r a
ington in 1963, is not the same M a rtin hisduty to perfect the imperfect A m eri­ disenfranchised A fric a n population in
Lu th e r K in g that we see at the tim e o f can union as it relate to B lack people the South K in g reasoned that restor­
his death in M em phis When we firs t and the oppressed in this nation. The ing the franchise w ould enable A f r i­
become acquainted w ith the young firs t phase o f his w ork as a social can Am ericans to seize control o f their
1 7ANTAGTW.1
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p o litic a l destiny by m arching on b a l­
lot boxes as w e ll as m arching in the
streets. The Selma M a rch in Alabama
was the c ritic a l tu rn in g point in this
struggle, ultim ately prodding the Con­
gress o f the U S. to pass the V o tin g
R ig h t A c t o f 1965; the most compre­
hensive measure adopted to protect
the vo tin g rights o f A frica n Am erican
since Reconstruction.
The th ird phase o f the w ork o f Dr.
K in g is the phase few people ta lk
about. It is characterized by an in ­
creasing awareness o f and indictm ent
o f the in stitu tio n a l and systemic char­
acter o f racism, m ilita ris m and pov-
, ertv in the U. S. N o doubt th is phase o f
his w o rk w as deeply influenced by the
urban rebellions and call to B lack
Power that rocked the nation art the
very height o f the c iv il rights revolu­
tion. The urban revolts along w ith
S C L C ’ s venture in to the northern
ghettos,pcrsuadedDr K ingthatsom e-
th in g m ore than c iv il rights legisla­
tio n was required to cope w ith the
staggering problems o f poverty, un­
A High -Skill Workforce Means B etter Jobs For Oregonians
BY BARBARA ROBERTS
O regonians should have good
paying jobs that can support their fam i­
lies. That means m aking sure that
Oregonians have the s k ills they need
to f ill today’ s more technical jobs
So I proposed in m y 1993-95 bud­
get a package o f education and job
the year 2010 are already employed in
Oregon's businesses. It is not enough
to educate our children fo r the jobs o f
tom orrow Oregon must also tra in and
upgrade the s k ills o f our current w o rk ­
ers fo r the jobs we need today
In the 1991 session I worked w ith
the le gislature and a c o a litio n o f
tra in in g investments designed to give workforce and education interests to
Oregonians the skills and education produce four in itia tive s w h ich funda­
they need to f i l l the h ig h -skills, high- m entally changed Oregon's education
and workforce development agendas:
wage jobs being created in Oregon
O regon’s economy is changing. the W orkforce Q uality C ouncil, the
Today, we must compete internation­ Educational A c t for the 21st Century ,
a lly in order to succeed Production the W orkforce 2000 Act, and the Leg­
fle x ib ility , quality products and m ar­ islative adopt ion o f the Oregon Bench­
For example, our young people
need an education that w ill prepare
them fo r to m o rro w ’ s jobs. So I dedi­
cated $14.8 m illio n in lottery funds to
begin sta ff tra in in g , youth apprentice­
ships, school -to-w ork transition for
students w ith disabilities, and jo in t
high school-community programs
M any Oregonians face special
problems in today’ s w ork place be­
cause they lack basic skills or their
industry is changing So I put $37
m illio n in to m a in ta in in g Oregon’ s
JOBS program, an education and train­
ing effort that has helped more than
12,000 Oregonians move o ff welfare,
becom ing tax payers, not tax users
A n d 1 also dedicated $10 m illio n to
help tra in and retrain workers who
have lo st th e ir jo b s as O re g o n ’ s
economy
changes, to expand serv ices
system, but also in the w ork place Oregon's w orkforce and the education
to
students
not succeeding in high
Today, 85% o f the w orkforce in the sy stems fo r O regon's children, so that
school,
and
to
give persons w ith dis­
year 2000 and 4 5 % o f the workforce in Oregonians can get better jobs
ket innovation w ill make the d iffe r­ marks
M y workforce agenda for the 1993
ence fo r Oregon businesses
These realities require a dramatic session directs $ 125.5 m illio n in lo t­
change not only in our educational tery funds to upgrade the skills o f
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em ploym ent, in fe rio r housing and
inadequate education affecting the
masses o f the B lack poor. The w ar in
V iet Nam w h ich was d ra in in g away
the n a tio n ’ s resources, “ like some
demoniacal destructive suction tube,”
was the fin a l event that transform ed
Dr. K in g from a race leader and c iv il
rights advocate to a severe c ritic o f
U.S. capitalism and im perialism . He
became a proponent o f fundamental
change.
Perhaps the most profound speech
ever made by D r. K in g was “ Bey ond
V ie t Nam a T im e to Break Silence,”
was delivered A p ril 4, 1967 in New
Y o rk, one year before his death In
that speech D r K in g said among other
things that, “ I could never again raise
my voice against the violence o f the
oppressed in the ghettos w ith o u t hav­
in g firs t spoken to the greatest pur­
veyor o f violence in the w o rld todav-
my own governm ent.” Standing con­
fidently at the rostrum at the Riverside
Church a grow ing, evolving Dr. K in g
proclaimed: “ I am convinced that i f
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Whiteley Leads United
Way’s 1993 Fund Drive
abilities employment opportunities.
Here in Oregon, as across our
Benjam in R. W hiteley, chairm an
n ation's business-not govcrnm cnt-is
o f the board and CEO, Standard In ­
the d riv in g force o f out economy. L o ­
surance Company, is volunteering as
cal comm unities shouldn't be told what
general campaignchairm an forU nitcd
type o f tra in in g and jobs they need
Way o f the C olum bia-W illam ette's
from “ on h ig h " in Salem So I pro­
1993 com m unityw ide fund drive.
posed $23.7 m illio n to improve coor­
As campaign chairm an, Whiteley
dination between the private sector
leads the efforts to collect co ntribu­
efforts and the public sector programs,
tions fro m donors in C lackam as,
in clu d in g $21.3 m illio n for Regional
M ultnom ah and W ashington coun­
W orkforce Committees These local
ties in Oregon, and C lark County in
regional committees w ill identify the
W ashington. The campaign, w hich is
tra in in g and business development
the largest annual fund drive fo r hu­
that's needed in their area
man services in Oregon and South­
A highly skilled workforce alone
west W ashington, is set to kick o ff
cannot guarantee good jobs for Orego­
Sept. 1.
nians , but it is a critica l component for
W h ite le y has been an active
economic success I w ill continue to U nited Way volunteer for more than
w ork to b rin g in new jobs, to keep the 20 years, most recently serving on the
jobs we have and to make sure that 1992 campaign cabinet as vice ch a ir­
Oregonians have the skil Is they need to man He serves on the boards o f nu­
get those jobs
merous charitable and professional
co m m u n ity groups, in c lu d in g the
Leaders Roundtable, Oregon Business
C ouncil and the Oregon T ra il C oordi­
nating C ouncil He is a current board
member and a form er president for
both the Boy Scouts o f Am erica, Co­
lum bia-Pacific C ouncil, and the A r-
• * z
we are to get on the rig h t side o f the
w o rld revolution, we must undergo a
radical revolution o f values. We must
rapidly begin the shift from a ‘ th in g
oriented’ society to a ‘ person o ri­
ented’ society7. W hen machines and
computers, p ro fit motives and prop­
erty rights are considered more im ­
portant than people the giant triplets
o f racism, m aterialism and m ilita ­
rism are incapable o f being con­
quered.”
It was this M a rtin Lu th e r K in g
w ho journey ed to M em phis to identify
w ith the struggle o f sanitation w o rk­
ers even as he prepared to launch a
massive poor people’ s campaign; a
m aturing M a rtin Lu th e r K in g that
was now prepared to declare, “ true
compassion is more than flin g in g a
coin at a beggar, it comes to under­
stand that the edifice that produces
beggars needs restructuring “ T h is is
the transform ed K in g w hich the U.S.
could not afford to let live. It is this
K in g that we as A fric a Am ericans
must forever keep alive!
Benjamin R. Whiteley
lin g to n Club, «aid is a form er board
member o f the Portland Chamber o f
Commerce.
W hiteley has recently completed
re cru itin g volunteers for the C am ­
paign ’93 cabinet These indiv iduals
w ill oversee fund raising activities for
p a rtic u la r regions and p opulation
groups w ith in the four-country area
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